Met Helmets have been a temptation for those of us buying off shore for years. They’re ready to launch with a few new Helmets through Tom Hall Enterprises and they’re bringing a couple of VERY nice helmets to the game.

Their top line road lid is the Sine Thesis…

This has some major channeling action inside and some neat, non absorbent padding nubs that are pretty damn comfortable… It also features a retention system a bit like Lazer’s that wraps around your head rather than simply jaming your head forward into the shell and hoping for similar curves…

The straps are also designed to be a little more active in shedding sweat…

And a clever bit of aero tech gets featured using a little more active Venturi effect to actively pull hot wet air out of the lid…

Tom Hall will also bring the Estro.

These also featured very good internal air flow and an advanced retention system…

And while the Sine Thesis will run some place near the $250 range, the Estro will come in around a hundred bucks but hits venting and weight numbers closer to lids at twice that price from a couple of other brands.

It will be this winter before these start to land, but this helmet is the one I wanted to steal from the show floor the most. I wasn’t alone and Jim Bremmer was fighting folks off toward the end with a knife.

Not TSA freindly… Bonus points for naming the original part.

Lazer are bringing a very cool range of glasses to market this year and the slickest product in the range is their Magneto…

Probably the biggest pain in the ass with most glasses is their constant conflict with helmet retention… That’s resolved to a large degree with the new Magneto. Lazer simply lopped off the arms and have integrated the glasses with the retention system…

The new system should not only make putting your glasses on a bit easier, but you’ll likely find yourself fiddling with them less and potentially less slipping off your nose. The two position magnets now mean the sticky arm material on your glasses are not in a turf war with retention system plastic. Less conflict, extra grip…

If I were to lose 2 or 3 (or 80 billion) brain cells and the damage were enough for me to consider doing a Time Trial, I would have this.

Very simply put, this is an Ant + Compatible heads up display that can tell you what Heart Rate or Power (or cadence or speed) you are at without having to commit one of the worst speed offenses you can do with a giant TT helmet on and start looking down.

You can program your target heart rate or power directly into the unit and set that to green and then set it to change LED colors for the next few zones you’re likely to see in training or competition…

There is also a small speaker inside the unit so that you can have audible cues as well, but I found the LED in these is VERY obvious without being overly bright.

This unit will work with a lot of different gear and 4iiii Also have a full kit of sensor / transmitters available. DAMN COOL.

They’ve actually changed a few things beyond just getting cooler. The new Vent Carbon Sole is actually another 30+ grams lighter than their Carbon Lite Sole, but it is supposed to maintain very good stiffness (and thankfully, Sidi have recognized that too much stiffness is as bad for shoes as it is for bike frames). Still, the easy feature spot is the reason they named this “Vent”…

Then again, another change to the sole is also easy to spot in that Sidi are now offering a 4-hole variant (though not the same updated vented sole design).

And unlike LOADS of Italian companies, Sidi actually have some comprehension of time… These new kicks should be available right away.

BikeFit’s SwitchIT has been refined and is one of those tools that would benefit shops, fitters and even serious spin studios…

The unit is VERY simple to use and extremely well made.

A lift of the back lever and your saddle is out (or in) in seconds.

And tilt adjustment is also extremely quick…

And the updated units now split at the lower rails (that attach to the seat post in place of a saddle). The rails are adjustable to fit virtually any post and most high quality spin bikes.

Saddle swapping is a huge pain in the ass for fitters and takes loads of time, yet it’s one of the most critical elements of rider comfort…

I’ve seen it happen… Guys start trying different saddles and stop after 2-3 because of the time hassle. You can change 2-3-4 saddles including tilt set with one of these in the time it took you to make 1 change on even simple seat posts. You’ll see these on fit bikes where the fitter genuinely cares. They’re ready now.